Even Better Than Revenge
by Sunrisepainter
Summary: In order to find the guy who bullied her in grade school Reika disguises herself as a boy to enter Shirokin. But what to do when her teacher finds out? Will she still be able to get her revenge? Or will something even better cross her way?


**©Sunrisepainter:**_ Even Better Than Revenge_

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Title: Even Better Than Revenge

Fandom: Gokusen

Genre: School, Romance

Language: English

Author: Sunrisepainter

Raiting: K+

Plot: In order to find the guy who bullied her in grade school Reika disguises herself as a boy to enter Shirokin. But what to do when her teacher finds out? Will she still be able to get her revenge? Or will something else cross her way?

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**Even Better Than Revenge**

_by Sunrisepainter_

Preface

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_All in all this will be my second publication about "Gokusen". When I first read about the drama on the internet I did not quite understand the storyline and the intention. I never paid much attention to the manga either. But because Matsumoto Jun was part of the cast I started to watch the first season and I was really amazed. The main actress was great and there was a lot of action in it and so I became a little obsessed with the manga, the anime, the movie and the drama at once. I have to say that the third season was my favourite one. But after publishing my first story "Golden Skies" (don't worry, I'll still post new chapters!) I thought about writing a story for every season. _

_So this one will be about the first season and a little different from my previous story. I still added an OC because I can't live without one^^. But this girl called Hirayama Reika is completely different from my cute little Nao – chan. _

_Reika is the kind of girl that's a little gloomy and indifferent at times. She liked traditional sports and lives only with her mother. In the story you'll learn more about her attitude and about her family background. Because she disguises herself as a guy she calls herself Inoue Shōta. I hope you won't be confused. I used a first – person narrator to make it easier to keep track. _

_The story also starts in the middle of the drama (Episode 4 – If you fail start over). Unfortunately I had to insert some literal dialogues, but there was no way to avoid it although I am not happy about it. But I will trying my best to add some of my own ideas so that this story will not become something like a renarration. _

_Please enjoy the following chapter ;-)_

**Sunrisepainter**

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**First Chapter:** Recalling the Past

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When I think about my days in primary school, there aren't so many_ good_ memories. I've never been a bright student. Just about average. But however my parents were proud of me. My grandma used to say: "Reika is such a sweet girl. She's kind and helpful. I'm sure she'll grow up to be a fine woman."

My parents always agreed with her, because at that point of time they didn't know what was about to happen a few years later.

When I was in second grade my parents divorced. From one day to another my whole life changed when my father left us without saying goodbye.

I couldn't understand why me and my mother suddenly lived with my grand – parents in Tokyo. I couldn't understand why my mother always cried at night. And I couldn't understand why I had to change schools.

It was hard for me to leave my friends behind and go to a school in a big city. I was a country girl trough and trough and my new classmates made sure that I never forgot where I came from. They treated me like an outcast. No one dared to talk to me, because they thought my accent was strange. The first year at school I was invisible and I didn't do anything to change my situation. Most of the time I spent reading mangas or sitting somewhere by myself while the other kids played happily with their friends.

I was still sad because my dad, who I always loved so dearly, was gone. And I knew that my Mum was in pain as well. Of course she never showed me her sorrow. She pretended to be fine in front of me and told me that there was nothing to worry about. In exchange I never mentioned the problems at school. Like my mother I kept everything bottled up inside of me and only cried in my pillow at night when I was sure that no one could hear me.

I always thought that it couldn't get any worse, but that was before _he_ stepped into my life. At any rate my life was cruel, but then _he_ came along at made it into an utterly nightmare.

It was in third grade when our class got a transfer student. Compared to my schoolmates I didn't care about the new boy. He wasn't very interesting and as normal and boring as all the other boys in my class. I didn't even bother to remember his name,

But my classmates were eager to learn everything about him. It seemed like he had to tell a lot of funny stories. He knew how to become the centre of attention and soon he was one of the most popular kids in school. I still remember that he often got into fist fights with boys of other classes and he always won. He was admired by pupils and disdained by teachers.

I still recall the day when I first talked to him. It was November and for two weeks it was constantly raining. I was on duty that day and had to stay behind to clean the blackboard. When I changed my shoes I saw him standing in the entry hall, watching the rain pour down outside the window.

My intention was to ignore him and leave as quietly as possible. But fate had another plan for me. When I crossed the hall my shoes made a squeaking sound and in surprise his head spun around. I fastened my steps.

"Hey!", I heard him suddenly say. I stopped in my tracks, but kept my eyes on the floor. I was a little taken aback that he called out to me. I didn't expect it.

"You're in my class, aren't you?", he asked and I heard him stepping closer to me, "I thought I was the last one her," I didn't response.

"Hey, didn't you hear me or are you deaf?"

I shook my head. My body tensed up. I wasn't used speaking with others. I wanted to leave as soon as possible, but I knew it was impolite to do so.

"Listen, I left my umbrella at home", he said and it didn't sound as if it was such a big deal to him "could you share with me?"

I looked at him in disbelief. Didn't his mother gave him an umbrella this morning? As if he could read my mind he added:  
"My mother brought me to school this morning but she was in a hurry and so she forgot to give me my umbrella."  
I slowly nodded my head and started to rummage in my bag. I could see him looking a little astonished as I gave him my spare umbrella. Sometimes I picked up my mother who recently started working for a small company and so just in case I always kept it with me.

"Can I really have this?", he seemed to be hesitating. I nodded my head and closed my bag. I didn't want to waste any more time, so I just left without saying anything.

"Thank you!", I heard him call after me.

I never got my umbrella back. I don't now if he just forgot about it or if he kept it on purpose. Of course I never asked him. But I soon regretted letting my helpful side surface, because after that he actually started to notice me.

The day after he first talked to me he wanted to know my name, but like before I just ignored his attempts to start a conversation. Instead he asked the guy sitting next to me. In a whisper, but making sure that I could hear every word, he informed the transfer about me:

"Her name is Hirayama Reika and she never talks. But it's better this way, because she has a strange accent and she's always looking sad. Nobody wants to be friends with someone like her."

The transfer laughed:  
"Indeed, now that you mention it, she always looks like she's about to cry."

There was a sharp pain in my chest when they talked about me like that. But it still didn't end. It seemed as if the new kid intentionally wanted to hurt my feelings:

"And not only that she looks like an Ameonna*? Did you already notice her clothes? It seems as if her parents don't have enough money to buy her anything new."

The boy sitting next to me snickered:

"And her dad must have been a farmer. She's from the country side, you know."  
"Yeah, a real country pumpkin", a girl who was listening to their talk joined in.

I could feel the tears filling my eyes and raised from my seat. With a crashing sound my chair fell to the floor. Now the attention of the whole class was on me. Silently I left the room. I couldn't bear with it any longer. I never wanted so baldly to disappear as in this moment.

After that I became the victim of constant bullying. At first it was just a small group of people obviously leaded by no one else but the transfer guy, but soon after the whole class joined in. They wrote many ugly words and phrases into my books and on my desk. Most of the time it was about me being a "poor stinking country pumpkin". I found trash in my bag and my school lockers. Everyday I had to look for something, because they hid my things. But the worst was that they always whispered when I entered the room and laughed behind my bag. It was always hard for me to hold back my tears, but I somehow managed it.

My nine – year – old self was a mess. I had no one to rely on. The teachers didn't notice anything and just scolded me, because my grades dropped. And of course I was afraid of telling them the reason why. My mother still had her own problems to deal with and because we were living alone in small flat now, I couldn't talk to my grandparents any more. The friends from my old home town stopped answering to my letters month ago and I was sure that they didn't even remember my face.

I was convinced that it was all the fault of this new boy. If he didn't appear I would've spent the rest of my primary school days invisible, but peacefully. I started to hate him.

I couldn't understand why he did that to me while I had been kind enough to lend him my umbrella. There were days when I still could see his mischievous grin inside of my head.

After I graduated from primary school my life as a middle school pupil began. Fortunately not many of my old classmates attended the same school and I was even lucky enough that the hateful guy moved to another township.

Again my life changed drastically. I found some good friends and my grades improved a lot, so that later I was accepted to a very prestigious public school. I was especially talented when it came to traditional Japanese sports. After a few month I became a steady member of the kendo club. I got stronger and more self – confident.

But I never forgot about the things happening in my childhood. There was still something like a big black hole inside of me that wouldn't disappear that easily. Somehow I wanted my old classmates to know about my change. I wanted to face them properly. Especially the guy who started all of it.

A few month before my public school graduation I saw my chance to get revenge.

Every morning before school I stopped at a shop to buy the daily newspaper to check out the results of the last kendo tournament. That's when I found his name mentioned in a newspaper article. All the memories of my past come back to me at once only because I saw the characters of his name.

That was the reason why I stood in front of a school I thought I would never enter. Shirokin High.

In a few weeks I would have graduated and in spite of that I still switched schools so suddenly. I had many plans for the future. After school I wanted to go to university and study juristic. My biggest dream was to become a prosecutor.

But everything was different now. I knew that it would be difficult getting into university after graduating from a school like this. But there was still more to it.

Shirokin was a school that only accepted male students and well...I was obviously _not_ a boy. I wasn't, but I looked liked one at the moment. I had to disguise myself as a male pupil to get accepted at Shirokin. It was very strange for me to act like someone else. I had to be careful not be discovered, so I tried to teach myself a lot about boys and their manners in the last few days. The most difficult thing was to hide everything from my Mum. She didn't have a clue that I changed schools. She surely would fainted if she found out about it. In order to make her believe I was still attending my other school I had to dress up as a girl in the morning and change in a public bathroom on the way to my new school.

But I had to do it. There was no other way. Even if I had to lie and risk my future I couldn't back down now. I was willed to do anything to get my desired revenge.

Until now everything went smoothly. My usual hair was only shoulder – length, so it was easy to hide it under a wig with a boyish hairstyle. My new school uniform was a little too baggy, but it was good to hide my female body.

I gulped as I watched the pupils passing me by. They all looked like gangsters that were desperately spoiling for a fight. Of course I noticed the provoking glances they gave me. I ignored them. I wasn't looking for trouble. If I wanted to do it properly I had to stay in the background and avoid to cause any kind of attention.

I tried to put on mask of indifference and boredom as I entered the building, but my inside was panicking and shaking like hell.

I was a little confused when I first met the principle of my new school. It seemed like something did happen, because all the teachers were agitated. Some of them desperately tried to calm down some parents that where going off about something.  
"I'm sorry about today, Inoue. Usually our school isn't that chaotic", the principal smiled kindly at me.

He gave me a paper with my name and the class I had to attend from now on and told me to look for my classroom myself. It said 3-B. Well, in the end it was my luck that no one paid attention to me. I knew that the person I was looking for was in class 3-D and my plan would have been a lot more difficult if I was in another class. So with everyone being busy I secretly changed the B into a D. They didn't notice.

"Where's the advisor of 3D, sensei?", I asked a teacher with glasses and greasy hair feeding a frog in a terrarium. He eyed me as if I was something displeasing before he answered me:

"It's Yamaguchi – sensei. She already went to class. You have to look for the room yourself."

"Thank you", I said politely and smiled. Surprisingly he smiled back:

"You seem to be a nice guy. Good luck."

I bowed my head and left with a strange feeling in my stomach. Good luck? Was my new teacher really that strict?

The walk to my new classroom seemed to be unusual long. Until now I never thought about the consequences of my plan. What if someone found out who I really was? What if the guy I was looking for recognised me before I could get my revenge?

My legs shook when I finally stood in front of the door. I heard loud noises behind it. A guy and a woman were talking really loudly and aggressively to each other. It sounded as if they were arguing. Taking a deep breath I opened the door and saw just in time a woman with pigtails punching a guy wearing a striped scarf. She wanted to beat him some more, but was hold back by one of her students. Agape I stared at the furious woman and the guy lying with a bleeding lip appalled on the ground. The woman called him "despicable" and said something about love and being heartbroken*.

"Shut up", the guy said and stumbled to his feed.

Before I could grasp the situation, he bumped into me and left the room. Now that some of them turned around to call after him they saw me standing in the entrance.

At first they starred at me as if I was some alien and then there glances became sceptical.

"Oi, who're you?", one of them asked very unfriendly. I tried to stay calm and thought about everything I tough myself. Don't let them notice you're actually a girl!

"My name's Inoue Shōta. Do ya have somethin' like a teacher?", I said with my deepest voice. Wasn't it a bit too much? I nervously bit my bottom lip as he gave me a dark look, but then he turned around:

"Oi, Yankumi! Here's some stupid prick looking for ya."

Now I finally got the attention from all persons in the room. First my eyes landed on the strange woman in the light blue training suit who had punched the guy. She was still shaking with rage. As she was the only woman here, besides me, I presumed that she was actually the teacher. What the hell was going on here?

Suddenly she came back to her senses and a small smiled spread across her face.

"What do you want me for? Is some other teacher looking for me?"  
"Nope", I said and smiled back, "actually I'm the transfer. Just got here, but looks like a bad moment to introduce myself."

The young teacher frowned and the guys seemed to be confused as well.

"A transfer? At that time?", someone standing next to the teacher asked. He had dyed messy hair and wore his uniform quite as sloppy as the others. I recognized his face in an instant. He was the one I was looking for. Only just I hold myself back from lunging at him and beating the crap out of him. He caught me starring at him and cocked his head to the side.

"Somehow you seem to be familiar?", he said slowly looking me up and down. I pressed my lips together. Did I get busted? Was everything over now? I tried to keep calm.

"Dunno."

"Must've beaten you up recently", the guy shrugged it off and inside I breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't recognized me.

"Strange, I thought the new student was going to be in Kanji – sensei's class", the teacher mumbled.

"The principle changed it at short notice", I lied shamelessly.

"Oh", she scratched her head, but then she shook my hand, "well welcome to our class. I hope you'll soon find some good friends. I'm Yamaguchi Kumiko, your advisor. But you can call me Yankumi like all my cute pupils do."

"Who's cute", some other guy standing next to her spit out, "we have other problems as to welcome a new brat."

"Ah, be nice Sawada. He's new. What's your name by the way?"

"Inoue Shōta."

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_**A/N:** * "Gokusen – Episode 4: If you fail, start over"_

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_**End of Chapter One.**  
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